EtherGeist: FlexRadio 6700 – Initial QSO’s

This last week I’ve been test flying the FlexRadio 6700 in a number of QSOs both on HF as well as 6m so I thought I’d give an update on the most recent experiences.

As a reminder I’m still using pre-release software together with the other alpha testers. Functionality is quickly approaching the release 1.0 level and so on-air testing is now seriously underway.

My installation is totally remote – all my radio equipment and antennas are located away from the house and controlled via Ethernet. Audio is handled by a balanced audio link over a spare CAT6 Ethernet drop patched through from the radios to my office in the house. The CAT6 cable has 4 pairs – two are used for stereo audio from the radio, one for microphone audio to the radio and the last for the PTT line. For many years I used a homebrew set of balanced audio drivers but early this year, switched over to commercial components made by Radio Design Labs. Much better fidelity and more audio drive (with gain controls brought to the front panel) make this link a considerable step up on my homebrew effort.